Getting rid of set stains

Recently I had a breakthrough with getting set stains out of some of our clothes so I thought it would be fun to share what I found out.

   I had a cotton knit white shirt that I really liked but had stained the elbow of at some time. (I guess I put my elbow in something without realizing it.) I was wanting to wear it the other day but didn't want to wear it with the stain so I tried to figure out what I could do to get the stain out.

    I am all out of bleach (and trying not to use it much anyway) but I remembered that Hydrogen Peroxide can remove stains at times. I put some H.P. on the stain (that was well set at this point- it had been through the wash many times) and it started to fizz and seemed to be working. I worked with it and then rinsed it out. The stain didn't all come out but it seemed to be a bit lighter. Then I sprayed it with shout and put it through the wash and YEA! it was all pure white again! (and I didn't think to take any pictures of that one!)

   Later I tried it one various different stains on white things. It didn't work on everything but it did on some.

This stain on Mara's shirt....

....disappeared.  Yea!

Sorry I wasn't able to get very good pictures but I was excited about the results so I wanted to tell you all too! It seems like inevitably we end up with stain white clothes and then though they may be perfectly good in any other way they are basically ready to be turned into rags. If I can get the stains out instead that will be a very good deal!

Removing set stains certianly works for me!

I would love to hear your greatest stain removing tricks!

Say "I love you"

There is this story I have heard about a couple that had been married 25 years or so and one day the wife asks her husband "Why don't you ever say you love me?" The husband replies "I told you I loved you when we got married and if that ever changes I will let you know."

That is funny to laugh over but it wouldn't be very funny if that was how it was in our marriages. We can't make our Husbands say "I love you" (and I have no need to) but we can certianly tell him that we love him.

Ken and I like to say those words pretty often. We don't always say "I love you" when he leaves for work but we often do. We don't always say "I love you" when we talk on the phone but we often do. We don't always say it just before we fall to sleep at night but we often do. I don't want it to be something we just say automatically without thinking about it but I do want to say it often! Throughout the day in many ways it is fun to remind our husband verbally that we love them.

Another thing that I think is fun to do is send a little e-mail to him at work just to let him know that I love him. Do you have any special ways of communicating that message to your husband? Lets not ever assume that they know that already, lets tell them!

It Sounded Like a Good Idea At The Time

**Warning... the following pictures may lead you to believe that our 38 hours in a hotel room were full of fun and sweet times shared together. Full of yummy mac and cheese...

Eating happily while watching TV...

Drawing on steamy windows....

Coloring with your sister...

Listening while your sister reads to you...

Watching TV.....

Eating breakfast in bed with your Dad while Mom takes a weird picture...

And listening while Mama reads a book....

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What you do not see in these pictures is both kids crying at the same time and me telling them that neither of them are leaving their beds until they stop crying, both kids staying up 2 hours past their bedtimes rendering them both so cranky the next day that getting them to play nicely was torture, and me with a stomach ache of unknown origin.

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In hindsight, I'm glad we went. It certainly got us out of the house but I'm not sure why I thought the cure for cabin fever was a small hotel room with 2 small children. We did have some fun and there were some really sweet moments but come Sunday morning, I was thrilled to be going home.

The mountains in Boone, NC are beautiful! The snow on the mountains made for great views while we drove home. Note to self... next time you travel to the mountains in the winter... remember your coat!

Be thankful for your husband

Something that I have found to be good for our marriage is to come up with a list (either written or in my head) of things about Ken that I am thankful for. For example:

• I am thankful for Ken being such a hardworker.
•  I am thankful that Ken is careful with our money.
•  I am thankful that Ken really enjoys playing with and spending time with our children.

And on and on!

Being thankful is always good and I think it always puts you in a better frame of mind after you practise thankfulness. This little exercise is especially good to do at times when your husband may have done something that you don't feel so thankful for. After making the list you realize that even though you feel unhappy about one thing there are so many other things that you are happy about.

Have you done this before? What are your thoughts?

Little Creatures

Still into whites you see. And trying to use up all my scraps. SO, I cut out white blocks of 7.5" and put 2" log cabin scraps all around it.

Went around to my friend A and said please please please draw me some lil' creatures - like the dragonfly, ladybug, butterfly, etc.

And so she did! Did a splendid job as well if you ask me. So I have 12 white blocks with lil' creatures on it and colourful scraps all around it.

Found a nice terracota-burnt-orange fabric that I thought would be a nice break-away from all that colourful scrap strips and put it as a 4.5" finishing border and its binding fabric. For the backing fabric, used up my left-over orange flowers on white.

Im SO IN LOVE with this finished work! Thanks a bunch A for your hand in it.

Measurement : 44" W X 58" L

Made up of 100% American cotton + JoSonja's fabric paint

Price : RM200

Status : SOLD!